1. Field of the Invention
The subject disclosure relates to transport arrangements for agricultural machines, and, more particularly, relates to an arrangement for the machine, such as an agricultural mower, to enable the machine to be transitioned to a transport mode such that the header is retained in an elevated position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Agricultural mowers and mower/conditioners, hereinafter referred to simply as mowers, are well known and include self-propelled and pull-behind types. A problem with pull-behind mowers involves the transporting of the machines between fields, since the width of the machine may exceed practical or regulatory limits. Machine movement may be necessary over farm lanes, through gates or on highways where the machine width will not allow passage in the operating orientation.
A typically solution is to place the mower-conditioner header mechanism on a separate trailer such that the lateral width of the mechanism is generally aligned with the length of the trailer (lateral transport) and then tow the trailer with the tractor. One such example is the Discbine™ Transporter (by common assignee) which is specifically configured for loading, unloading, and laterally transporting a Model 1441/1442 disc mower conditioner while attached to the operating power unit (tractor). Such special trailers add significant cost, requires significant skill to load and unload, and must be used to transport the machine between locations or separately transported.
It would be advantageous to provide a reconfigurable transport arrangement for supporting a pull-behind mower header to be laterally transported while attached to a tractor and retaining the header of the mower in an elevated position without requiring an additional implement or special trailer. Further advantages would be realized by a lateral transport system that is quickly and easily transitioned to a passively retained header in an elevated position in the lateral transport configuration. Still further advantages would be realized by a lateral transport system that can be produced with less cost than the separate trailer lateral transport option it replaces.